FITCHBURG — The city is about to resume the search for a new police chief after the mayor withdrew her nomination of her top pick.

Ms. Wong had nominated Scott L. Heagney, an agent with the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, before she and city councilors received an anonymous disparaging letter Monday from an Attleboro resident about Mr. Heagney; his brother, Kyle P. Heagney, who is chief in Attleboro; and their deceased father, who was a captain in the Attleboro department.

On Tuesday, she suspended completion of Mr. Heagney's background check and withdrew her nomination two days before his scheduled confirmation by the City Council.

Now, Ms. Wong claims the 46-year-old ATF agent, who runs the Rochester, N.Y., office, was not forthcoming on his résumé about his work experience or about a court case on alleged assault and battery and other charges when he was 21.

But Mr. Heagney said he completed the application and answered all questions asked by BadgeQuest, the public safety consultants that contracted with the city to help with the search.

BadgeQuest's application asks for only 15 years of experience, but Mr. Heagney said Ms. Wong took issue with him not including his time as a patrolman in the Attleboro department nearly 30 years ago.

Moreover, the application had a space to list criminal convictions, but Mr. Heagney was found not guilty at his trial in 1988 and his records were sealed. He said the allegations were made by an ex-girlfriend in retaliation for the breakup.

"I answered all questions fully," Mr. Heagney said. "Don't expect 30 years of employment history when you are only asking for 15. Nowhere in the process is there a spot to bring these issues up."

Mr. Heagney said the mayor withdrew her nomination because of an anonymous "poison pen" letter before she even tried to find out if anything in it was factual.

Mr. Heagney would have replaced Chief Robert A. DeMoura, who is leaving March 31.

His brother, the Attleboro chief, said he was deeply disturbed by the letter.

"I feel bad," he said. "I feel like my brother lost his job because of me and it saddens me. If given the chance, he could have done great things for Fitchburg."

He said the letter was more of an attack on him and the false allegations against his brother, Scott, were an attempt by the writer to get to him.

"They tried to character assassinate him to hurt me," Chief Heagney said.

After taking the post four years ago, Chief Heagney said, he cleaned up corruption in the Attleboro department and in the process made several enemies, including officers who resigned and others who were terminated.

He said he believes the letter writer is a malcontent former employee and faults Ms. Wong for not finishing the background check on his brother that would have proven the allegations in the letter are false.

"I am disappointed in Mayor Wong," Chief Heagney said. "I thought she would see through anonymous letters like this, but apparently she doesn't have the political backbone to stand up against nonsense and poppycock."

Ms. Wong did not return calls for comment, but did respond via text: "The city is not interested in pursuing a candidate for police chief who was not forthcoming with his résumé. We are focused on moving forward with a new search."

Fitchburg Councilor Paul R. Beauchemin said the mayor should have completed the background check.

"If we didn't do the background check, shame on us," he said. "You're talking about somebody's name here."

Councilor Amy L. Green said the mayor may have jumped the gun before completing the background check, but said she needs to be comfortable with the person she nominates.

"When it comes to those positions of power, you should have full disclosure, no matter what age you were," she said of Mr. Heagney and the charges against him in 1988. "It would have eliminated what is going on now."

Stephen H. Unsworth, owner of BadgeQuest, said the company's application asks if applicants have any issues the city should be made aware of.

"If you're on trial for assault, guilty or not, you should disclose that," Mr. Unsworth said.

He said he is not sure if the issue would have come up in his background check, however, because the records were sealed.

He also said BadgeQuest was brought in a few months late in the process and did not have the chance to help the city with the recruiting process. There was also a delay in receiving Mr. Heagney's personnel file from the ATF, he said.

"The city was anxious to get Scott's name before the City Council," he said. "But we did not have his file from the ATF. I had spoken to Scott's superiors and was assured nothing negative was in his employment history. In my opinion Scott Heagney is an honorable man, but I do think he should have mentioned the court case. It is an extremely important position."

Contact Paula Owen at powen@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @PaulaOwenTG

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